Congresswoman introduces ‘Aaron's Law’ to honor Swartz

In the wake of computer genius Aaron Swartz’ untimely death, some US lawmakers are advocating that the government make changes to the federal statutes that the hacker is alleged to have violated before taking his own life.

Swartz, 26, died
last week of an apparent suicide. Had he lived, Swartz was
expected to stand trial later this year to face a multitude of
counts related to a laundry-list of so-called criminal activity
the United States government alleged he engaged in. If convicted,
Swartz stood to spend 35 years in prison.

Citing broad prosecutorial outreach, Aaron’s
father said during his son’s funeral on Tuesday, “Aaron
did not commit suicide but was killed by the government.”

The death of Aaron Swartz is an unfortunate catalyst to prompt
discussion, but has proved to be a powerful one nonetheless. Only
four days after his passing, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California)
announced on Reddit — a website that Swartz himself is
credited with co-founding — that she’s proposing a series of
changes to the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or CFAA [PDF].

“As we mourn Aaron Swartz’s tragic death, many of us are
deeply troubled as we learn more about the government’s actions
against him,” she wrote Tuesday night. “There’s no way
to reverse the tragedy of Aaron’s death, but we can work to
prevent a repeat of the abuses of power he experienced.”

According to Rep. Lofgren, the US government could make great
strides in lessening the odds of another hacker suicide should
they decide to make changes to the CFAA, a legislation first
passed in 1986 that is largely considered antiquated by today’s
technology standards.

“The government was able to bring such disproportionate
charges against Aaron because of the broad scope of the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and the wire fraud statute. It looks
like the government used the vague wording of those laws to claim
that violating an online service’s user agreement or terms of
service is a violation of the CFAA and the wire fraud
statute,” she wrote.

“Using the law in this way could criminalize many everyday
activities and allow for outlandishly severe penalties,”
Lofgren said.

In a Reddit post that has since spawned over 100 comments from
users of the site, Lofgren links to her proposal — an amendment
to the CFAA that would “exclude certain violations of
agreements or contractual obligations, relating to Internet
service, from the purview of certain criminal prohibitions.”

The changes, though minor, could make a world of difference, says
the lawmaker. But while it is indeed a step towards the right
direction in terms of avoiding another tragedy, some say
Lofgren’s attempt is not enough to end the government’s
witch-hunt against alleged criminals.

"It’s a great first step," Marcia Hoffman of the
Electronic Frontier Foundation tells Forbes, "But if it’s
trying to make sure what happened to Aaron can’t happen to
someone else, it needs to do more."

In the article, penned by Forbes’ Andy Greenberg, both Hoffman
and technology attorney Tor Ekeland suggest that the overly vague
verbiage in the CFAA allows for the government to go after all
too many targets.

On Reddit, Lofgren says, “this bill to amend CFAA and wire
fraud statutes, which I would like to call ‘Aaron’s Law,’ should
be enacted separately and swiftly. It could be an important
tribute to him.” It had since gained the support of Lawrence
Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School who spoke highly of
Swartz during Tuesday morning’s funeral service.